My friend and his girlfriend went and got a criminal record to avoid a short license suspension

My friend had just worked his 70 hour workweek and made a big money for him, so he decided to take my other friend and I out to a nice bar in the city. His girlfriend came along as well.<br><br>His girlfriend was driving, as she had just gotten her full license and he paid for an expensive insurance that would keep her premiums from rising if she got 1 or 2 suspensions. She drove us all to the bar and parked the car in a no-parking zone. The bar owner explained that he didn't want the city to give her a ticket, and that the cops were around.<br><br>She said fuck it and parked in the no-parking zone, and the cops were around and gave her a ticket. She cried and said it was a 30 day license suspension and would be a $400 fine.<br><br>The cop told her if she wanted to go to court she could and a judge might be more lenient. She was not willing to risk the fine going up, as she had already told her parents she got a ticket, but hadn't told them about the suspension. So to avoid this 30 day suspension and $400 fine, they went to criminal court, and got a criminal conviction as an absolute discharge, which for those who don't know, is a criminal conviction with no penalty.<br><br>This was a 1-2 hour process which for anyone who doesn't know is a process where your first appearance is to plead guilty as your lawyer will recommend, then get assigned to a different judge to get your sentence, which is usually a small criminal record, small fine, or a few days in jail.<br><br>They both did this, and got the charges dropped. My friend's girlfriend no longer had a license suspension, and my friend got a criminal record for the rest of his life for some dumb shit.<br><br>It just goes to show how our criminal system really works.